1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of anti-backlash nut assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many applications in which it is important to drive an element in a machine along a screw which provides accurate positional repeatability and constant drag torque control. Data printers and x-y tables, used as peripheral equipment in the computer industry, for example, have such requirements.
Positioning devices designed to meet these requirements have been proposed, and many of these employ an anti-backlash nut assembly to achieve the positional accuracy along the screw which is required. Examples of two such anti-backlash nut assemblies which have been proposed are described in the patent literature as follows.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,358, issued to Kopp, a linear positioning device is disclosed which is stated to have an improved collar for use with a comparatively inexpensive rod having multiple grooves. The collar is telescoped over and adapted to be translated back and forth relative to the elongated rod. This collar includes cantilevered fingers which are resiliently wedged into angularly spaced grooves formed in the rod to preload the collar onto the rod and prevent rotational play from developing between the two. In one specific embodiment, the collar is telescoped onto a rod in the form of a splined shaft while in another embodiment, the collar is a nut threaded onto a screw with multiple threads.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,269, issued to Linley, an anti-backlash, self-aligning nut construction with specially constructed tubular nut bodies which coact with concentric spring sleeves is described. The nut bodies, in general, each have a pair of spring-biased elements provided with internal thread formations adapted for engagement with the external threads of a screw. In one embodiment, a self-aligning spring sleeve is provided having solely three pairs of oppositely-disposed transverse slots to obtain the desired aligning features. The nut body has a base portion which is separated from the spring-biased elements by means of two transverse slots which, together with an adjacent pair of slots in the spring sleeve, form in effect a universal joint. One of the remaining slot pairs in the sleeve is oriented circumferentially with respect to the first pair by an angle of 90.degree., with the third pair of slots being circumferentially aligned with the first pair.
Despite such prior proposals, none of the anti-backlash nut assemblies heretofore proposed has been entirely satisfactory. There is still a need for an anti-backlash nut assembly which is effective to assure positional repeatability and constant drag torque control, but is also easily and inexpensively manufactured.